


[on hiatus bc exams] Death Is Certain

by hxmestuck



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Punk, Blood and Gore, F/F, F/M, M/M, Major Character Injury, Out of Character, Sadstuck, Trollstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 04:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hxmestuck/pseuds/hxmestuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas and the 23 other trolls all live in a society like no other.<br/>Annual games are played each year for the Governments amusement.<br/>12 trolls must fight together in teams to defeat the others at all cost, this year there's a change.<br/>24 trolls have to fight in teams against each other for the Governments delight.<br/>Friends fight against friends, families against families, brothers against brothers and sisters against sisters.<br/>Death is certain.</p><p>Let the games begin.</p><p>//PLEASE SELECT THE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER VIEW, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO VIEW IT THAT WAY//</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily influenced by the Hunger Games.  
> Some/Most characters will be OOC.  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting off at the beginning

Karkat sat on his sofa, staring at the TV because the news was on.  
It was that time of the year again, time for those shitty annual games that the Government arranged for their amusement.  
“We won’t get fucking picked this year will we? I better fucking hope we don't” Karkat complained to his friend Sollux, his brother Kankri listening to their conversation behind them.  
“Karkat, you probably won’t be, you’ve both only just made it in to the minimum age group, it’ll most likely be me and my friends going to this” Kankri frowned slightly at both of them, turning his attention to the TV, his jaw dropping momentarily.  
Both Karkat and Sollux flipped their heads round, looking wide-eyed at the TV.  
“What are they doing?! They’re adding another 12 trolls to the games, that means that there’ll be 24..all because it'll be 'more fun' what the heck?!” He looked over, a wash of worry flying over his face.  
Sollux looked over to his own brother, Mituna. Both of the Captors were staying over the Vantas’s for the night, the main reason to find out who were going to be taking part in the games.  
“Shit, Kan, w-what if we’re all in those s-shitty games?!” Mituna looked over to Kankri, his face laced with worried.  
Sollux gripped onto Karkats arm, slightly in fear “Karkat, what if we are? What if we are in the games?!”. Karkat mumbled as a response, grabbing his laptop and searching up the website to see the list of the 24 representatives for the games.  
“Karkat, what’re you doing?” Kankri asked, obviously interested by him more than the news at the time, trying to avert his attention from the worry.  
“I’m looking up the fucking website for the shitty list” He frowned, typing in the link and hovering over the ‘See Who’s In It This Year!’ button.  
All the boys peered over Karkats shoulder while he typed, he sighed as no results came up.  
“There’s nothing here yet, I’ll check back later alright? Should I start a group Skype call with the others? We may as well find out together” The others nodded as Karkat opened Skype, luckily everyone seemed to be online or have the away sign, he started the group call.  
Everyone spoke at once until Karkat shouted down the mic for them to shut up.  
He waited until everyone was silenced and spoke clearly. “Right, now I have all of you fucktards quiet, Kankri explained earlier that they’re adding another 12 of us into the games this year and we’re all in the age group so, it’s a high chance that some of us will get chosen alright? They’re announcing the first person in about 15 minutes..” He finally finished, everyone started talking again about what he’d just said when Terezi spoke up “Karkles, the teams are randomised right? So, would the teams be announced after all the people are announced or will it go in order of teams so like, the first 4 people are team one or..”.  
Karkat pondered on the question “Uh, I’m not sure. I kinda hope it goes in team order to save ourselves waiting in anticipation, I mean, we might not even be chosen yet!” He leant back slightly, looking over to the others.  
Kankri and Mituna were in the kitchen, presumably getting snacks or something and Sollux was still next to him, smiling slightly.  
“Hey, Karkat, do you think we’ll get chosen?” Sollux looked over to his best friend, obviously worried.  
Karkat put the mic on mute, typing BRB into the chat.  
“C’mon Sol, of course we aren’t, we’re only just in the age group! If any group of trolls is going to get chosen, it’s the older ones..” Sollux nodded slightly.  
“I hope we aren’t, fuck I’m already nervous over it..” Karkat hugged him quickly before putting the mic back on.  
The entire group talked about how they were feeling, most were nervous and scared but some of the older ones felt impassively about it, excited for an adventure to happen.  
Eventually, the two others came back into the room and sat on each end of the sofa, both sipping out of cans of Fanta.  
The news screen flashed indicating that the first name was up.  
Karkat reloaded the page, for him, the internet was slow so when he heard the whole group on Skype let out a gasp he could tell it wasn't who they were expecting.  
It finally loaded and his own mouth let out a gasp, eyes widening.  
“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! NO, I-“ Karkat breathed heavily, the name that showed up was his own.

‘Team One – Member 1 – Karkat Vantas’

Kanaya and Nepeta started talking quickly, saying it was going to be alright and that they’d probably be picked too, like most of us.  
No one else spoke, they just typed things into the chat.  
One thing that was good from this announcement was that they were announcing the names in team order.  
Karkat sighed, still breathing quite heavily “Guys, it’s alright, just uh, a little shocking, you know? Having your name called out first in front of the millions watching the news is pretty nerve-racking”  
Various words and pharses came from Eridan and a few others saying things but let the matter pass quickly.  
The TV screen flashed again, showing that the rest of the team one were going to be announced in 5 minutes.  
When there was no important talking going on in the call and Sollux had gone to find where Mituna had disappeared to, Kankri ran over to Karkat hugging him tightly and mumbling softly “Karkat, are you alright?”  
“Y-Yeah, Kanks, I’m fine, just a little fucking shocked you know?” He sighed slightly, looking over to Sollux and Mituna talking, Sollux obviously found Mituna but Mitunas face looked pretty scared but he wasn’t one to assume things straight away.  
Kankri let go of him, a tinge of emotion left on his face.  
“Kankri, I said I’m fine, stop looking at me like that! Seriously, go grab another Fanta, you need to clam down! It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing” Karkat laughed gently, knowing full well that Kankri bought the lie about him ‘knowing what he was doing’.  
He turned his head quickly towards Sollux when he heard shouting. It appeared that Mituna and jumped on his back and pushed him to the floor.  
Karkat laughed loudly, the group on Skype asked what was going on and he said Mituna just owned Sollux, needless to say, a few giggles were heard from the call.  
The TV flashed with another announcement, everyone hurriedly came to sit back down while the next name popped up on the screen, Karkat reloaded the page, leaning froward slightly in desperation to know.

‘Team One – Member 2 – Sollux Captor’ 

Another round of gasps went around on the Skype call, Karkat looked to Sollux who had come to sit next to him, hugging the lanky figure tightly.  
“Oh my god. I’m not going to be alone..” He smiled slightly, reassuring Sollux it was okay when he saw his frightened face looking down at him.  
“Are you alright Sol?” Mituna asked, poking his brother slightly  
“Yeah, uh, just in shock like KK was..” He smiled weakly, knowing he wasn’t going to be alone.  
Every 15 minutes, another name popped up and another round of gasps were shared, at the end of the night, the teams looked like this.

Team One:  
Karkat Vantas  
Sollux Captor  
Latula Pyrope  
Meenah Peixes

Team Two:  
Eridan Ampora  
Gamzee Makara  
Rufioh Nitram  
Damara Medgio

Team 3:  
Terezi Pyrope  
Feferi Peixes  
Kankri Vantas  
Cronus Ampora

Team 4:  
Kanaya Maryam  
Nepeta Leijon  
Kurloz Makara  
Mituna Captor

Team 5:  
Vriska Serket  
Aradia Medigo  
Horuss Zahhak  
Meulin Leijon

Team 6:  
Equius Zahhak  
Tavros Nitram  
Porrim Maryam  
Araena Serket

The TV flashed again, leaving a message saying they were going to be leaving for the first location in two days.

 

Let the games, begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a music playlist set up for the story!  
> http://8tracks.com/emilysturgeon/homestuck-sadstuck
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr for updates:)  
> psionics.co.vu / jfcsollux.tumblr.com


	2. Realisation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter, I'm sorry!
> 
> //PLEASE SELECT THE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER VIEW, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO VIEW IT THAT WAY//

They all sat there in stunned silence, the Skype call had finished after the teams were read out and everything was eerily quiet.  
Mituna was the first to break the innocent silence “D-does this mean we’ll have t-to kill each other?!” His voice broke slightly, indicating he was on the verge of a break down, it wasn’t unnatural for him to act like this though so it was already expected that it was going to happen.  
Seeing as he was so close to his brother, it made things worse. “ ’Tuna, don’t worry about it okay? I’m sure it’ll never come to us uh, killing each other..” Sollux frowned slightly at the response he gave, getting up abruptly and sighing slightly before walking into the kitchen, motioning Karkat to follow.  
Karkat looked at him before hurrying off, leaving the other two sitting with puzzled expressions on their faces before they resumed talking about irrelevant stuff.  
Sollux looked at Karkat, fear in his eyes “KK, We aren’t going to survive 18 god damn days without getting hurt, are we?”  
“S-Sollux, come on, it won’t be that bad” Karkat tried to reply, as calm as possible.  
Sadly, Sollux didn’t take it as calmly as Karkat had wanted “NOT THAT BAD?! NOT THAT FUCKING BAD?! KARKAT, I’M PROBABLY GOING TO END UP KILLING MY OWN FUCKING BROTHER, SAME FOR YOU, AND YOU SAY IT WON’T BE THAT BAD!” His eyes filled with rage, replacing the fear that was previously there, grabbing Karkats shoulders tightly and shaking him.  
“YEAH WELL, I MIGHT HAVE TO KILL MINE IN THE END, WE BOTH HAVE IT ROUGH ALRIGHT?! I’M JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR BOTH OF US, TRYING TO MAKE OUT THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT FOR THE MEAN TIME!” Karkat shouted back angrily, his eyes widening as he saw Sollux’s hurt expression, he regretted what he did quickly, pulling Sollux into a tight hug  
“I guess you’re right” Sollux replied, trying not to sound too blunt.  
Kankri quickly stopped his conversation with Mituna, noting that they needed to get stuff ready “So, I guess we all need to get ready, seeing as we’re leaving in two days to the first location”  
“What are we even meant to pack? Are we even meant to pack at all?” Karkat huffed, mentally noting down a list in his head of the amount of things he may need to pack.  
“Pack? Karkat, we aren’t going on a darn day trip, all we need to take is weapons, clothes will no doubt be provided, as for food, we’ll have to find our own” Kankri crossed his arms, scoffing slightly at Karkats stupidity.  
Sollux smirked from behind Karkat, punching his arm lightly before jumping onto the sofa.  
“Well, you guys may as well go and get ready? Don’t want you being unprepared on our behalf, you can come back after anyway” Karkat shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, running upstairs to look for his sickles, hoping they’d be easy to find.  
He heard Mituna and Sollux leave, letting a small sigh of relief leave his mouth.  
Kankri came up the stairs, running to his own room to grab his weapon of choice, obviously, Karkat had no idea what his weapon was, even though it was his own god damn brother.  
He found his sickles, grabbing a backpack to keep them in for the mean time.  
He ran back downstairs, waiting for Kankri to come down with his weapon. While he waited, he decided to go and check his phone for any recent updates. He found that he’d received a text from Gamzee, it wasn’t unlike him to text Karkat but this one seemed weird, there was no typing quirks or errors and no use of ‘miracles’ or ‘bro’.  
He read the text suspiciously, wondering what was up with him. 

‘Karkat, look, I’m scared alright? No, scratch that, I’m terrified…’

He sighed slightly, knowing that Gamzee wasn’t feeling up to his best abilities.

‘Gamzee, you can’t be scared, you never get scared remember? What are you even scared about? Once you go a god damn day without sopor you go ape shit, you’re going to thrash these shitty games’

He waited for seemed like forever for a reply when it finally came.

‘I know but I’m scared I’m going to kill you’

The reply was understandable, he knew how much he meant to Gamzee, they were childhood friends and had been together through everything.

‘If you kill me, I know you didn’t mean it’ 

That’s the best reply he could come up with because Kankri came down the stairs, holding a set of what seemed to be throwing daggers.  
“Hah, sweet Kanks, didn’t realise you even owned a weapon” Karkat said, obviously impressed.  
“Well, I don’t really like to flaunt them about seeing as I don’t honestly like resorting to violence that often” He showed Karkat one of the daggers, they were intricately designed with words dotted around the edge, it was a weird choice of design, it looked like it belonged on a necklace or something of the sort.  
“Nice design I might add” He smiled up at Kankri who laughed lightly.  
Kankri shifted Karkats legs slightly, sitting down on the end of the sofa, grabbing the TV remote and flicking through the channels.  
Karkat decided to send Sollux a text to check if he and his brother were coming back over.

‘Sol, you coming back to mine or what?’

He didn’t have to wait very long for a reply

‘Yeah but not for a while, Mituna has gone off in one of his childish rampages again and seeing as my parents aren’t here to sort him out, I’ll have too’

He didn’t bother replying to the text, he just hoped Mituna wouldn’t try and bite him like last time, his teeth are sharp as heck.  
He frowned quickly, realising his parents weren't home either, he didn’t question it though, they were always going off together, his mum and dad that is and whenever he asked Kankri where they’d gone, he’d never give him a straight answer.  
Kankri was still flicking through the channels until they both ended up watching Friends, both laughing at the comedy.  
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, Karkat got up to open it but Kankri stopped him, shaking his head and sensing something wasn’t completely right.  
Kankri stopped outside the door before opening it, hiding his daggers in his back pocket.  
“Oh, it’s you.”  
Karkat got up slowly, treading quietly until he was behind Kankri’s back, seeing as Kankri was much taller than him, it made him look pretty small to whoever was outside.  
Karkat looked up at the figure, it looked like it was a friend of their parents, obviously one’s that Kankri didn’t take a liking too.  
“What do you want exactly? If you’re looking for our parents, they aren’t here right now” Kankri frowned at the figures and ushered Karkat away from behind him.  
Karkat took the gesture of leaving and went back to the sofa, listening to Kankri raise his voice at the people.  
Kankri came back in to tohe living room, huffing slightly before slumping back down.  
Karkat looked over to Kankri, crawling over slightly and resting his head on his chest. He always liked it when he could comfort Kankri without talking.  
Sometimes Kankri just wanted a little bit of peace and quiet, which Is understandable.  
They both watched episodes of Friends until Karkats phone rang. He lifted his head of Kankris chest and moved into the kitchen, accepting the call.  
“Hello?”  
“Karkat, hey, it’s me”  
“Oh, Eridan, uh Is everything okay? Seeing as you never call me, this is a rarity”  
“No, not really..”  
“Well what’s up? You sure you shouldn’t be talking to someone like Feferi about your problems?”  
“I’ve tried but she’s ‘occupied’ right now.” Karkat could feel a hint of sadness in Eridans voice when he talked about Feferi.  
“Alright, go ahead, tell me your problems”  
“It’s about the games, I’m scared as shit! You seem like a good enough person to talk to about this kind of stuff”  
“Why’re you scared? You’re a good fighter from what I’ve seen and you have a good sense of calmness about you which can get you through many situations, look Eridan if you want my honest opinion, stop fretting about these fucking games, they’re just a waste of time and you won’t die, not if you have that Ahab’s Crosshair with you or whatever, that shit can get you through anything. I promise you’ll be okay.”  
Eridan gasped a little down the phone  
“Y-You mean that?”  
“Yes idiot, I wouldn’t lie”  
“Thanks Kar, I’ll stop annoying you now, thanks though”  
Karkat said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, turning around to see a smiling Kankri behind him.  
“How long how you been standing there?!” He asked frowning slightly.  
“Since you started the phone call, that was a nice thing to say you know”  
“Ah, whatever, I was just telling him the truth, he’s a insecure enough as it is and I’d rather not make things worse” Karkat shrugged his shoulders as there was another knock on the door, you could hear the familiar laughs of Mituna coming from the other side.  
Karkat ran to the door, opening it and letting the two come inside.  
Mituna sat on the sofa, grabbing a bag of crisps from the counter as he came in, motioning Kankri to come sit with him.  
Karkat smiled at Sollux who looked a little bit tired and upset, most likely about the Mituna incident earlier, nevertheless Sollux grinned back dorkily as Karkat lead him up into his room, shutting the door.  
They talked about what had happened with Mituna and the Eridan phone call, they ordered pizza and Skyped with a few others, laughing to themselves, it was when Sollux when to go to the bathroom when Karkat thought that after tomorrow, nothing was ever going to be the same.  
Sollux came back to a curled up Karkat, he comforted him, telling him that they’d both get out alive and that everything was going to be okay like he said earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a filler chapter really, thanks for being patient for the chapter updates! 
> 
> Other characters POVs from the other teams will start when they all get into the games!
> 
> I promise the next chapter will have a lot more happening in it!
> 
>  
> 
> ((My Tumblr; jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu))


	3. Reminiscing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //PLEASE SELECT THE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER VIEW, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO VIEW IT THAT WAY//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~another filler chapter:c ACTION HAPPENING IN THE NEXT, WOAAAAAAAAAAH~

((We’re skipping to the evening of the last day!))

So, this was it.  
The two days went pretty quickly, the two boys had gone out together earlier that day to go and enjoy themselves for a while, it was nice that the two spent some actual time together without being interrupted by off putting news.

They went to the beach, both acting like the children they were and went off playing tag for almost the whole time they were out.  
When you eventually got back, Kankri made Karkat some snacks and they both watched half a series of Friends, needless to say, both of their voices were hoarse from laughing.  
It was getting dark and Kankri had been cleaning out the fridge and the freezer of all the fresh produce and chucking it away so it wouldn’t go mouldy in the containers they were stored in. He cleared out all of the cupboards with help from Karkat, packing a handful of snacks and putting them in a ziplock bag for the journey to wherever they were going.  
After they’d finished, Kankri ordered a pizza seeing as he’d forgotten to save any food for themselves for dinner when he was chucking the food out.

They sat at the dining table, no doubt for the last time until they got back.  
They both ate in a comfortable silence, only the sound of the TV static humming in the background.  
“Karkat, I think it’s time we got everything in order, first, please make sure you have your weapon with you, take a backpack and take a few snacks for the journey, I know a lot of others who are taking these essentials so I don’t want you to be left out” Kankri smiled softly as he spoke, cleaning the plates and the pizza box from around Karkat.  
“Alright” He sighed slightly, getting up from the table and turning the TV off as he walked by it, resuming to his path of walking up to his room.  
He opened his door quickly, picking up his favourite Firetrap backpack and getting his sickles from the bag that he was keeping them in and putting them in his other backpack.  
He already had a handful of snacks that Kankri had shoved into his hands before he left the table.  
He slipped them into the front pocket of his bag, laughing slightly as he saw that Kankri had added a note with read ‘Karkat☺’.  
He resumed tucking his sickles into his bag and packing an extra sweater just in case it was cold where they were going.  
He smiled softly to himself, wondering when exactly Kankri had written it.  
He let the thought pass and zipped up his bag, making sure all the electrics were off.  
They were instructed severely not to pack any electrics or mobile phones.  
He looked over with a saddened expression on his face, knowing that tomorrow was the day everything would change.  
He turned the light off and closed his door, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything.  
He walked downstairs slowly, greeted by Kankri who was finishing off the cleaning.  
He motioned to your phone obviously trying to tell Karkat that he had a message or something of the sort.  
Karkat ran over to the armchair, not knowing if it was an important message or not.  
He clicked the keypad and it came up with 3 unread text messages.  
The first was from Porrim, telling him to remind Kankri to pick up his phone once in a while.  
He relayed the text to Kankri who immediately ran upstairs to check his phone.  
The next was from Tavros who was wishing him goodluck, it seemed he'd sent the message to everyone, weird kid.  
The last was from Sollux telling him that he was going to meet him outside his house in 10 minutes.  
He looked at when the text was sent.  
Luckily it hadn't be sent long ago.  
He still had time to help Kankri clean.  
After the small amount of cleaning was done he heard a knock at the door, he smiled slightly as there was obvious tension in the air.  
He knew Kankri was nervous, he was secretly scared at heart but with his bland facial expressions, it was obvious he didn't want it to show.  
Karkat moved quickly to the door, opening it and looked at Sollux before he was pulled into a hug.  
"Its our last normal day here I suppose it won't be the same when we get back, will it.." He said solemnly.  
"I doubt it but hey, do you want to go back to yours for a while? Kankris just cleaning and the electrics are off" Karkat sighed slightly, looking up at the taller troll.  
"Seems fine to me" He nodded in agreement.  
Karkat shouted back to Kankri who was sitting on the sofa, simply telling him he was going to be gone for a few hours, Kankri mumbled as a response, obviously too caught up in catching up with Porrim.  
He and Sollux walked together in a comfortable silence, looking at the view ahead of them.  
It looked breath taking, it was a pretty orange sunset, the long strands of light making both of your shadows look long behind both the trolls.  
They both laughed together as Karkat was still smaller out of the two, Sollux got an angered grumble from Karkat.  
When they made it to Solluxs house, you could hear shouting from inside. Sollux rubbed his eyes tiredly and walked in, hearing the screams from Mituna.  
“FOR FUCKS SAKE TUNA, WHAT THE FUCK HAS HAPPENED NOW?!” Sollux shouted in a parental way, no anger intended.  
“I-I b-broke t-the mirror, S-Sol I-I’m sorry!” Mituna replied, using the nickname which Sollux hated, he always hated the nickname 'Sol' when Mituna used it, Karkat never understood why.  
“Tuna, it’s alright..” He bought Mituna into a hug when he had come out from behind the sofa where he had hidden.  
“O-oh hey Kark!” Mituna mumbled from in Solluxs embrace.  
Karkat smiled softly, letting out a timid wave.  
When Sollux had finally let go of Mituna he sent him to go and clean up the debris from the broken mirror.  
He sighed slightly, rolling his eyes “Jeeze, I swear if he ever moves out he’ll never be able to live”.  
Karkat chuckled softly before residing to the sofa with Sollux.  
They talked the whole evening, reminiscing over memories from the past, and laughing to each other.  
They Skyped with Eridan and Feferi, deciding to watch Adventure Time afterwards.  
It was getting late and Karkat decided it was time to get back to his own home.  
“I guess I should get going, Kankri’s probably shitting himself with worry or something, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow” His voice broke slightly at the end before he blushed from embarrassment.  
“Hah, I’m sure he is and yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow Squeaky” Sollux let out a loud laugh and received a glare from Karkat  
“Shut your shit eating mouth” He smirked back before turning around and walking home.  
He heard another laugh from Sollux before he heard the click of the door closing.  
He slipped a hand into his pocket, collecting his phone and calling Kankri, reminding him that he was coming home and he wanted some orange squash to be waiting on the counter for him when he got back.  
He decided to take a detour home, straying from the usual route.  
He went past the beach front, looking over the bay as the sun continued to set.  
He sat on the edge of the cliff top, looking at all the trolls and people below him playing on the beach.  
He smiled softly to himself as he remembered the times him and Gamzee, as well as Sollux and Terezi went down there to play in the sea.  
He also went with Kanaya a few times, she was like a sister to him, they'd always have hour long walks, talking about matters that they could only tell each other.  
It took him a good 40 minutes before he got back, Kankri opened the door, smiling slightly and letting the younger troll in and handing him the drink he’d asked for.  
Karkat told Kankri about all the things he’d done at Solluxs as well as the long detour, sounding like he was an excited school girl telling their older sister about the party they’d just been too.  
It was about 10 pm before Karkat decided to go to bed.  
He hugged Kankri tightly before mumbling into his chest.  
“Kanks, I just wanted to say thank for you putting up with me and looking after me” He looked up sadly, knowing that this could well be the last time they’d be here.  
“It’s fine, I’m just doing was a big brother should do” Kankri smiled down sweetly at Karkat before ushering Karkat upstairs to bed.  
Karkat undressed himself, brushed his teeth and updated all his social networking sites that he was on, saying he wouldn’t be on for a while.  
Obviously he couldn’t say where he was going even though everyone already saw his name on the news.  
He turned off his phone and his iPod, making sure they weren’t going to turn back on.  
He switched the light off and rested his head on the pillow, he looked outside his window, letting a small tear roll down his cheek.

“Goodnight...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another filler, I'm sorry the last two have been fillers but don't worry! Chapter 4 is where the action begins:D
> 
>  
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr for regular updates! ((jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu))


	4. Arriving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day finally arrived.  
> They were heading to their first location.
> 
> //PLEASE SELECT THE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER VIEW, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO VIEW IT THAT WAY//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //CHARACTERS WILL BE MILDLY OOC, YOU CAN GUESS//

Karkat was woken up by a light shake from his older brother.  
Kankri stood there, all ready to leave the house and impatiently waiting for Karkat to get up.  
“Karkat, come on! We don’t have time to waste here! Please just hurry up and get ready, don’t forget to leave all mobile phones or whatever here” He finished quickly, leaving Karkat alone so he could get ready.  
Karkat got up begrudgingly, finding that Kankri had already got some clean clothes out for him.  
He rolled his eyes slightly before slipping the clothes on and getting his backpack, double-checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything or to turn anything off, luckily he hadn’t and walked downstairs briskly.  
He was greeted by Kankri shuffling around the kitchen, eating some ready made toast and reading what seemed to be the news paper, Karkat scoffed slightly, reaching into his pocket to look for his phone, remembering he’d left it upstairs as he wasn’t allowed to take it.  
He sighed slightly, slumping down opisite Kankri and huffing slightly.  
“When are we actually meant to fucking leave?!” He asked, obviously agitated by the fact Kankri had probably woken him up 3 hours earlier prior to the event that was to take place.  
“Language Karkat and in about 5 minutes” He replied, his eyes not leaving the newspaper, frowning slightly at whatever was on the page.  
Karkat didn’t bother to talk back, he was in no mood for one of Kankris rants right now.  
He left the table, taking one of Kankris pieces of toast with him, smirking slightly as he could hear Kankris sigh of disapproval.  
Karkat stumbled over to the sofa, looking up at the ceiling above him.  
Time passed quickly as he was looking up at the ceiling, it went quickly for something so boring.  
Kankri had finished reading whatever he was reading and walking over to Karkat, poking him slightly, reminding him it was time to go. 

They heard a knock at the door, it was obviously the Government associates to collect them and take them to the meet up area.  
Kankri sighed as he picked up his backpack, gesturing Karkat to do this same, Karkat didn’t need to be told twice as he got up, taking his own backpack and walking with Kankri to the door.  
Nonetheless it was the associates coming to collect them, Kankri gripped onto Karkats arm, giving the men a stern look before walking out, shutting the door and taking a key, which was placed on a necklace, from under his sweater and locking the door, placing it back around his neck and tucking it safely under his sweater, his arm stayed gripped onto Karkats.  
The associates lead them to a car, obviously expecting them to get inside, they didn’t need an explanation as they both filed into the car, the men driving them to the meet up area. 

It took a good 10 minutes before they made it, getting out of the car quickly to see that mostly everyone else was there, both of the Leijons, Captors and Medigos were still to arrive.  
Kankri let go on Karkats arm immediately, walking over to his own friends, even though he was perfectly acquainted with all of them he was still overly shy, it was weird for him though, he was extremely talkative when he was younger but something happened over one summer, Kankri always avoided the question when Karkat asked about it, it was obviously a touchy subject for him so Karkat never pondered on it much.  
He walked over to Kanaya and who was sitting down on a nearby bench, watching over the others.  
Vriska was playing tag with Terezi, even though Terezi was blind, she was incredible at flash-stepping, that move would come in handy later on, Gamzee was annoying Equius and Eridan, trying to make them laugh and failing miserably.  
Feferi was waiting with Meenah, gripping onto her arm tightly and looking down at the ground.

“Hey Kanaya” He mumbled quietly, sitting down onto the bench next to her.  
“Hello Karkat, how’ve you been feeling today?” She enquired, looking over to him and smiling slightly.  
“I’ve been alright I suppose, slightly nervous” He replied, smiling weakly at her in return.  
“Ah, everyone’s slightly on edge today, it seems Kankri looks nervous too” She said, raising her eyes over to where Kankri stood, he had his sleeves of his sweater held tightly in the grip of his small palms, he looked up at the others, not uttering a word or joining in the conversation, he looked over quickly to where the two were, smiling gently before looking up at Latula who started speaking to him, turning her back from the others to talk to him.  
“That Latula girl seems nice, doesn’t she?” Kanaya asked, looking over again to Karkat  
“Yeah, I’ve heard Kankri talk about her sometimes…how’s Porrim?” He knew it was a sketchy subject for Kanaya to talk about to others, but these two had a different type of friendship.  
“Oh, she’s doing perfectly well now, she had a few incidents the other day that I’d much rather not talk about but it seems that talking to your brother helped a lot” She smiled sweetly, placing a hand on top of Karkats lightly.  
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask anymore” He knew that was the right thing to say when she leaned over and hugged him, he loved Kanaya’s hugs, she was probably the only person he could tolerate them from apart from Sollux and Kankri occasionally.

The conversation stopped there as the Medigos arrived, Kanaya waved Karkat goodbye and she walked over to Aradia.  
Damara just joined the older group and started talking as soon as she got there.

After Karkat sat on his own for a while, Gamzee saw Karkat was alone and to Equius and Eridan’s delight, he left them and walked over to him.  
“Hey best friend” He smiled widely in his low tone.  
“Hey fuckwit, what brings you here” Karkat raised an eyebrow and Gamzee took Kanayas previous place.  
“Well, you looked all up and alone and I felt like you needed cheering up plus Tavbro is with Rufioh over there” Gamzee pointed to where Tavros stood.  
“So, I’m your second favourite now then?” Karkat replied, a little bit of jealously rose within him, he slapped the feeling away immediately.  
“No, Karbro, c’mon, I didn’t mean it like that” Gamzee looked over, a slight tinge of sadness in his eyes.  
“Whatever, I know you like him better, which is completely fine, Gamzee I’m not one of those people who won’t let you have other friends, that’s just stupid” He smiled as a reply which Gamzee took thoughtfully, placing a hand on Karkats shoulder and laughing slightly.  
“Alright then best friend, I’m going to all up and go over to Tavbro now, is that cool?” He asked with a slight tone of caution in his voice.  
“Yeah, go ahead, I think Sollux has arrived anyway” Karkat waved him off and just as he said it, both Mituna and Sollux stepped out of another associate-driven vehicle. 

Mituna headed straight over to Kankri and the others, smiling at Sollux before his did, Sollux looked around for a little bit, saying what seemed to be ‘hello’ or ‘good luck’ to most of the others, he knew he had a big advantage which he was very smug about.  
He saw Karkat and waved, running over to him, a few of the older trolls smiled nicely at them while Karkat just rolled his eyes at him.  
“Ah, it sucks to be one of the last here” Sollux exclaimed, pulling Karkat into a small hug.  
“Don’t worry, at least you aren’t the very last, we’re still waiting for Nepeta and her sister” Karkat replied, hugging Sollux back reluctantly, too many hugs were happening today.  
Both boys rambled on about what the first location could be when the final car pulled up. Nepeta and Meulin came out from different sides, they all smiled sweetly and said something along the lines of ‘sorry for the delay’ or something.

It was about 5 minutes later until another tall associate arrived, clapping loudly waiting for everyone to fall silent.  
“Before we send you all to your first location, there needs to be a few ground rules set for the journey. Number one, you must stay in your designated teams, no switching over secretly during the journey, after we bundle you up into your separate team vehicles, secondly you have 5 minutes to say bye or whatever the hell you need to do after I’ve finished and lastly, we’ll all talk over more various rules when we get to the first location, I hope none of you bought any mobile devices with you or any electronics for that matter, we’ll collect all the teams in 5 minutes” He finished talking pretty quickly and left swiftly, leaving most people if a little shock from how fast and apparent his rules were.

The first to move was Cronus, surprisingly.  
He headed over to Eridan and knelt down, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering quietly, it sounded like words of kindness, knowing Cronus, he most likely said ‘It’ll be alright chief, if you promise not to kill me, I’ll never harm you’ which ended up with Eridan clutching on to Cronus tightly, sobbing slightly.  
Each brother and sister went to each other, all the olders giving the younger ones advice, sometimes the other way around.

Kankri walked quickly over to Karkat.  
“K-Karkat,I j-just want you t-to know that I l-love you and i-if I hurt you, I n-never meant it” He sobbed slightly, trying to hold his passive expression together.  
Karkat pulled him closer.  
“Kankri, it’s fine alright, I know you’ll never mean to hurt me, same to you and I love you too, thanks for being a fucking fantastic brother to me” Karkat hugged Kankri, comforting him while he looked over to Sollux and Mituna who both smiled at him, Sollux smirked at him slightly when Karkat gave him a meaningful glare.  
Everyone was wishing others good luck, either giving hand shakes or quick hugs to one another.

 

“Right, team one, please follow me” He called out.  
Karkat, Sollux, Latula and Meenah stepped forward, following the associate out of the room, everyone waved goodbye, slight tears in their eyes.  
Every team got called out one by one and all filed into separate vehicles.  
Sollux and Karkat stayed right next to each others sides, sitting down at one side of the van while the two girls stayed on the other, they all shared quick glances at each other.

After they all got loaded in, they heard shouting from outside, Karkat instantly knew it was Kanaya.  
He stood up quickly in the back, peering out of the van to see what was happening.  
It seemed that Porrim was refusing to go and Kanaya was trying to persuade her.  
It took a while until Kanaya eventually won and Porrim stepped into the van sulkily.  
The trucks started up after a while of waiting, moving along shakily.  
It was estimated thatto the journey and Latula started to speak.  
“Guys, you both seem hella rad but not too talkative, so let me just introduce myself, I’m Latula Pyrope, obviously Terezi’s sister, you can call me Tula, anyway, I can guess you two from a mile away. Lil Dude, you’re obviously Kank’s lil bro which is hella adorable because Kankri’s a little sweetheart and Technicolour you’re obviously ‘Tunas lil bro, man, you look like a miniature of him” She smiled widely, holding out a hand to the both of them, Sollux shook it first and Karkat second.  
“Yep, I’m Karkat, Kankri’s brother and this is Sollux, Mitunas brother” Karkat answered before Sollux could add any smart-ass comments about how he and his brother look nothing alike.  
Meenah spoke up after Karkat introduced himself and Sollux.  
“Well, I’m Meenah, Fef’s older sister but that’s all you need to know, don’t call me Mee or Nah or I’ll rip both of your heads off” She half-joked, flashing a fanged smile.  
“Uh..” Sollux replied, slightly scared by her actions.  
“Don’t worry kidda, I’m just joking, we’re all a team, I’m not legit going to rip your heads off, I don't want any of us getting hurt or worse, expelled” She smiled again, a little less menacing this time, laughing at her own joke and referring to Harry Potter.  
"Did you seriously just quote Harry Potter" Sollux laughed, seeing as Harry Potter was probably he favourite set of films next to Lord Of The Rings, he jumped at the chance of talking about it.  
Him and Meenah talked about films for a while, Latula and Karkat listening at their arguments at who acted the best.  
It seemed to pass the time quite quickly as everyone soon became sleepy.  
Karkat had already fallen asleep during the process of them arguing, curled up next to Sollux and Meenah vowed to stay awake but was feeling drowsy herself, eventually she fell asleep herself but nobody noticed which is just how she liked it.  
Latula looked down at Karkat then back up to Sollux.  
“Awh, lil dudes fallen asleep” Latula cooed, she was a sucker for small and adorable ‘beings.  
Sollux laughed slightly, looking up and motioned for Latula to be quiet for a bit, he moved his hand down to one of Karkats horns, rubbing the base of it slowly, Karkat started to purr quietly and Latula let out a grin.  
“That's hella adorable, oh my fuck” She cooed again, Sollux smiling himself.  
They chatted for a bit, mostly about Mituna and the others.

Latula finally fell asleep herself and Sollux did the same, Meenah had fallen asleep earlier, just after Karkat did in fact.

Time passed quickly as they all slept, it was early the next morning when they were all suddenly woken up by the abrupt stop of the vehicle, it seemed byy the uproar of shouting from the associates that drove them here that they had indeed arrived at their first location.

First Location: Mental Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn't too cool but oh well!
> 
>  
> 
> //follow my Tumblr for updates! jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu


	5. Everything Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh
> 
> so, everything really starts going  
> woop

The door was pulled open by a games leader, all the trolls in the van sat quietly, not daring to make any noise.  
"Well what are you waiting for? Come out!"   
For a games leader who's game are certain in death, he was very cheerful.  
Latula and Meenah got out first, hopping of the back on the van.  
Karkat and Sollux followed suite, leaving the van timidly, not like the outburst that Latula and Meenah gave.  
They saw the others but were strictly told not to meet up with them until they were in their rooms so a few trolls just looked at each other, mouthing things to each other.  
Karkats eyes fell on a few others, Kankri was first it looked like he mouthed a small 'love you' or something which Karkat rolled his eyes at, he next laid his eyes on Nepeta, who for someone who wasn't easily scared, looked terrified.  
Karkat simply moved his hands up to his head, mimicking cat ears which earned a small giggled from the other girl.  
He finally looked at Kanaya who was looking right back at him, smiling softly and nodding.  
Karkat took this as words of encouragement which he took gratefully.  
Another game leader and a few associates came out from the large building which they'd parked in front of, the other leader standing next to the smaller one. Karkat never examined the building properly.   
It has this eery sense about it which Karkat didn't take a liking too. One of the game leaders started talking and Karkat focused his attention on him.  
"Alright, so my name is Dirk and I gather you understand the rules am I right?"   
The taller team leader had a strong American accent but Karkat couldn't pinpoint which state it was from.   
Dirk raised his eyebrows and waited for a response to the previous question.  
They all nodded in reply.   
"Good, I'll hand you over to my brother Dave now" Dirk looked down to Dave, smiling.  
"Uh, so, seeing as you know all of the rules, I'm going to lead everyone around and show the places they'll be sleeping in tonight seeing as the thing starts tomorrow we don't really want you too stay in those vans again" Dave let out a nervous chuckle at the end of his talk, looking back up Dirk for what to do next.

Dirk read out the team names, making sure everyone was here.   
Everyone answered their names, getting ready to leave for their sleeping areas.  
Dirk and Dave lead everyone in order of teams, taking them away from the white building and towards a smaller looking building.   
They all stepped inside, looking down what seemed to be a long corridor with rooms leading off them.  
Dave lead the first 3 teams down one way and Dirk lead the others, the other way.  
Karkat and the rest of his team followed Dave quickly, stopping outside one room.  
"So, um this is Team Ones room" he sighed slightly, opening the door.  
Karkat nodded politely, smiling at Dave when he walked in with the other 3 trolls.  
The room was a nice size with four single beds set out on both sides, there was a small bathroom in one corner and a large wardrobe in the other.  
"Wow, this place is certainly nice for a one night stay" Meenah huffed slightly as she spoke.  
Latula laughed slightly, poking Meenah in the ribs which ended up in a small cat fight.  
Sollux went to set up his stuff on one bed, placing everything out of his backpack neatly, which indeed wasn't a lot of stuff but nevertheless he placed it as neatly as he could.  
Karkat slumped down on the bed one down from Solluxs, the other two girls still play fighting on the floor.  
Karkat hummed slightly, placing his hands over his ears as if to block all sound out, he tried to him to himself, closing his eyes as he did.   
His bag was still on the floor still packed with his possessions.   
Sollux looked at him, almost worryingly.   
Meenah and Latula took notice, Latula frowning slightly at Sollux who simply shook his head.   
The girls took this gesture as a time to leave.   
They both left to go to the main hall at the end of the corridor to meet up with the others while they had time.   
Sollux sat down next to Karkat, holding him close.  
"Kar, what's up?" His voice littered with concern.  
"I don't want to be here, I don't want to do this! Sollux I-I" his voice whimpered slightly at the end, Karkat mentally slapped himself as Sollux looked over with pain in his eyes.  
"No one does..no one" he hugged him close, sighing slightly.  
The moment was cut short by a knock at their door.  
Karkat was still huddled up on the bed when Sollux stood up and opened the door.  
Stood in all her glory was Vriska.

"Oh, it's you" she said as snidely as she could.  
"Yes it's fucking me, this IS my team room" Sollux spat back, crossing his arms across his chest.  
"Whatever, where the fucks Meenah gone? Aranea's looking for her" She replied strongly.  
"Check in the main hall that's where they went" He replied quickly.  
"What's with mutant there" Vriska pointed, seeing that Karkat was on the bed and using the term 'mutant' because she knew it'd piss both of them off.  
"What the FUCK did you just say?!" Sollux stood up straight, ranging to be about 4 inches taller than Vriska and clenching his fists slightly.  
"Sol, don't, its fine" they both looked at him almost in shock, normally Karkat got pissed off by this but he wasn't in the mood.  
"Just, go away Vriska, they're in the hall" Karkat replied blandly.  
Vriska gave Sollux a last glare before she ran off.  
"KK, what the hell was that? She called you a mutant how the fuck did you not get offended?!" Sollux looked over, almost in anger at his friend.  
"Sollux, calm down okay? I've just come to learn that I have mutant blood so just let the moment pass and go to hall and find the others" Karkat raised his eyebrows as a gesture to leave, Sollux shook his head and pulled Karkat up from the bed and dragging him out of the door with obvious groans of dissaproval from the smaller troll. 

They got to the hall, seeing that everyone was in their little friendship groups, Sollux looked over to where Eridan and Feferi were, heading over to them.   
Eridan gave them a friendly wave, encouraging them to come over, Feferi looked up, giving her full beam of a smile to the others approaching them.  
It was set up so it was like a coffee shop layout, there was about 5 sets of two sofas around small coffee tables.  
Sollux and Karkat sat on one and Feferi and Eridan on the opposite sofa.  
"So, how've you been then? The journey was pretty fuckin' terrible wasn't it" Eridan exclaimed, looking over.  
"Yeah, we all went to sleep pretty quickly though" Sollux replied, looking at Karkat who's face was emotionless.  
Eridan whispered over to Sollux.  
"What's up with him?"  
Sollux leant over, repeating what's happen earlier.  
Eridan glared over to Vriska who looked back questionly.  
"Eridan, leave it, there's no need to start letting you anger out on her, I agree with her entirely anyway" Karkat looked up, emotionally exhausted.  
The time passed quickly and the game representatives came in the split everyone up.   
Everyone said their last proper fare wells knowing that they would be fighting the next time they all saw each other.  
Karkat and the rest of his team filed into their respective room, all cleaning their teeth and slipping into their beds.  
"Night.." Meenah whispered, everyone mumbled in return, sleeping soundly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow my tumblr for more:)
> 
> jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu


	6. Death Will Always Appear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day, you lucky butts!

TEAM ONE.  
DAY ONE.

Latula woke up before the others, waking everyone else up.  
"I know sleep is rad and all but we kinda need to get ready"  
She sighed, knowing everyone wasn't ready for the days activities.  
Everyone begrudgingly left their beds, putting on a new set of clothes and repacking their backpacks.  
"Five minutes until we have to leave" Sollux reminded the others.  
Everyone nodded in return, straightening their bed covers and milling around for a bit.  
Fie minutes passed and there was a knock at their door, indicating it was time for them to leave.  
They all kinda high fived each other, leaving the room and heading outside.  
They were all lined up into teams and reminded of the rules and they all agreed, looking at the other teams and smiling weakly.  
They were all lead into six different entrances, this was it.

Time to kill.

 

They were lead into one of the many side entrances, Dirk handing them 2 boxes of matches and gave them small smile, making sure they had everything.  
Karkat got his sickles out, Sollux with his pair of throwing stars, Meenah with her chain which was slung around her waist and Latula with her slingshot and a pouch full of tiny pebbles.  
Team one were set to go, waiting for the heads up on the intercom above them.  
They anxiously waited, looking at each other and nodding.  
The intercom crackled and Daves voice sounded.  
"3. 2. 1. Go"  
And with that the team rushed off, running down long corridors.  
The corridors were white-washed and bland, not showing any sign of life about them.  
They ran until they found what looked like an infirmary.  
"Fuck, we should get medical stuff" Sollux noted.  
"Yeah, no shit dumbass" Meenah replied, raiding the cupboards for bandages.  
"No deaths have been said yet so I hope everyone's doing alright" Karkat added, claiming a medical box as his find.  
Latula kept watch, her slingshot at the ready and waiting.  
They cleared out the infirmary, slipping many bandages and medicine into their pockets and back packs as they could.  
They moved quickly, Latula motioning them to follow.  
Soon, she put a finger to her lips, looking around the corner quickly, she looked back, horror painted over her face.  
Karkat looked around the corner quickly joining her, his eye widening.

It wasn't even the first hour and there Vriska was, hovering over a tiny Nepeta.  
"V-Vriska! Y-you don't have to d-do this!" She looked up, pain streaked across her face.  
"Nepeta, that's not the rule of the games, I have to do this" she looked down as Nepeta fumbled for her cat claws, not completing the action in time. Vriska stood above her, smirking slightly as she bought out her knuckle dusters, covered in long spikes, eight on ring to be precise, she closed her eyes as she plunged the duster straight into Nepetas chest, raising the other ringed hand go swipe her temple, opening her eyes as she ran away quickly, shouting to her team members way off in the distance.  
The intercom crackled again and Dirks voice rang through the asylum.

"Nepeta Leijon, deceased"

Karkat stepped away, tears filling his eyes as he stormed off in the other direction, Meenah catching up to him at the front.  
"Look, you couldn't do anything about it, we were all ill prepared and not ready to help" she comforted him, pulling him to a stop and waited for the others.  
"We could have stopped her! We could have spared a life!" Karkat whispered angrily under his breath  
"Look, lil Dude, stop being so hard on yourself! If we got involved we could have easily risked the life of our team! Those people aren't your friends anymore, they're your enemy's!" Latula reasoned with Karkat, becoming serious.  
Karkat huffed, moving quietly ahead, his sickles at the ready.  
"Can you hear that?" Sollux questioned, hearing what seemed to be a high pitched whistle, he fell down to the ground quickly, clutching his head.  
"Sollux, fuck!" Latula went to his side until Karkat ran back, kneeling down by his head.  
"It's the frequency from the intercom! Its messing with his psionics, quick, grab me something soft to stop the sound!" Karkat breathed quickly as Meenah searched in her pack, pulling out two cotton wool balls, she handed them to Karkat who swiftly went to work on blocking Solluxs ears, trying to calm him.  
"Not even an hour in and something already gone wrong" Meenah said quietly.  
"He can't help it, he didn't choose to have these god damn things put into his body! Stop complaining and shut up! We just need to get him to safety for a while" Karkat ordered, lifting Solluxs limp body up and holding him while he walked onwards toward a near by room.  
They walked in silently, only a low mumble coming from Sollux every now and then, he started thrashing about, clearly irritated by this psionics.  
Karkat went about, sitting him down and trying to get him to speak.  
"Well, I wasn't exactly co-" Meenah was cut short by Latula kicking her shin slightly.  
"You'll only make things worse, just let Karkat deal with Sollux"  
Sollux finally calmed down after what seemed like hours.

They all headed off again down the dark corridors, they didnt need to use many of their matches because Solluxs psionics let off a dim glow sufficient enough for them.  
They walked for what seemed like forever, trying to look for anyone or anything.  
They found what looked to be a cafeteria, they all went to the kitchen area, slumping down behind the counters.  
"Well, I thought this'd be interesting, not much has gone on so far apart from a death and a panic attack" Meenah complained.  
"Oh for fucks sake! Meenah I swear to god if you do NOT shut up complaining I will kill you myself! Seriously, we just have to lay low for a while and wait for something to happen" Latula turned to her friend, frowning as she spoke.  
Meenah looked hurt in a way but sucked it up and nodded, agreeing with her statement.  
They stocked up with food they found, most things had been taken.  
Another team must have crossed their paths.

They started talking again until they heard voices coming closer, it was only two voices though, it seemed their team had split seeing as the intercom hasn't sounded after Nepetas death.  
One of the voices, Meenah could recognise easily.  
"That's Cronus..and I think Kankri" She lifted her head from where she sat below the counter, nodding as she sat back down.  
"Yep, that's those two...they won't attack though...I don't think" she finished quickly, motioning everyone to crawl under the counters just in case.  
Kankri walked in before Cronus, talking about safety or something.  
They both lurked around the cupboards, sensing something wasn't right.  
"Someone's here" Cronus spoke quietly.  
Meenah stifled a laugh, knowing that Cronus was trying to sound intellectual.  
Kankri stopped quickly, getting his throwing daggers out from his pocket holder.  
Latula looked over to the others, shaking her slingshot about as if to ask for permission.  
They all nodded and Meenah pointed up to one of the pans.  
Latula steadied her slingshot, slotting a small pebble into place.  
She aimed and fired, shooting the hook of the pan which made it fall which a loud crash.  
Both Cronus and Kankri cowered in fright, moving out of the way.  
"That wasn't a ghost, someone must have trigger something" Kankri implied, looking over to where the pebble sat on the floor.  
"Latulas here" he said blandly to Cronus, showing him the pebble which was engraved with the initials L.P.  
Meenah looked over, holding in another laugh.

The others looked on, sighing.  
"Do you think the rest of her team are here?" Cronus asked.  
"Probably.." Kankri replied, searching in the cupboards again.  
Karkat looked over to Sollux motioning him to use his psionics so he could scare them.  
Sollux nodded, smirking as he concentrated on lifting Cronus in the air.  
He dropped Cronus after 10 seconds in the air, he frowned.  
Karkat shuffled closer, whispering to him.  
"I think they've put a timer on all powers as not to give such an advantage, it was probably what happened earlier when you heard whatever that thing was, it was probably set up by the leaders to be able to monitor your use of psionics"  
Sollux nodding in return as the statement was true.  
They both looked over to Meenah and Latula who were almost crying with having to hold in their laughter.  
Cronus started screaming and Kankri couldn't help but laugh.  
"It's that fucking Captor kid! It's his fucking tehnicolour shit!" Cronus shouted.  
"Cronus, if you don't stop shouting you'll attract attention to us" Kankri stated.  
Karkat scoffed at his statement, Latula pinged another pebble, hitting Kankri in the shin.  
Karkat looked over to Latula winking.  
Meenah held her fingers up, counting down for them to get out from below the counter.  
She held the last finger up and everyone jumped out.  
"FUCK!" Cronus shouted  
"Don't worry, we won't kill you...yet" Meenah laughed pinching Cronus's arm.  
"Oh, hey Kanks, like my pebbles?" Latula said  
"Actually, no..it kinda hurt" Kankri replied  
"Oh, hey.." Cronus said to the two younger trolls.  
Sollux and Karkat waved.  
"I swear to god, if you dare do that to me again I'll kill you" Cronus threatened Sollux, only half meaning it.  
Sollux raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.  
"You got enough food?" Meenah asked Cronus as Kankri was fussing over Latula.  
"Ah, no.." Cronus said sheepishly.  
Meenah went into her pack, bringing out enough food for the two of them and enough for them left over.  
"Thanks kitten" Cronus said, hugging her slightly.  
Meenah hugged back without any hesitation.  
Time passed and they said goodbye, thinking it'd be rude to kill them this early in the games.  
They all left the cafeteria, Latula picking her pebbles up on the way.

Team One walked silently down the hallways, still waiting for any action.  
They heard the intercom buzz again, looking up to the nearest one.  
"Aranea Serkit, deceased"  
They all waited quietly, Meenah stood completely still, tears filling her eyes, the heard a scream which belonged to Vriska way off in the distance, it ran like a pack of wild horses running through the corridors.  
Meenah fell to the floor, everyone else circling her.  
"Meenah..are you alright?" Latula enquired.  
"No, I'm not fucking alright! My best friend just fucking died! How would you feel if Mituna or Porrim died?! You wouldn't be fucking on top of the world then would you? Just shut the hell up and leave me alone for a bit" Meenah spat out to Latula before she stormed off, leaving everyone staring in her wake.  
"Should we follow her?" Sollux asked innocently.  
"I don't think that's a rad idea...just leave her for a bit, she can fend for herself" Latula finished.  
The other 3 team mates walked in an awkward silence, treading quietly along the never ending series of corridors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been away recently attending some school concerts and performing so I've been writing while I've been away and mustered up 2 chapters!:D
> 
> Hope you enjoy:)
> 
>  
> 
> //follow my tumblr for more! jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu//


	7. Nepetas and Araneas Death - Minilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You don't have to read this, it's just a recap of what happened with the deaths included in the previous chapter!

Nepeta walked along the corridors, she knew that her team were right behind her..right?  
She scampered along, humming to herself as she ran along.  
“No one’s going to kill me just yet, It’s only just the start of the games” She told herself, not intending anyone to answer.  
“It doesn’t matter if it's the start of the games, people will kill nonetheless” A voice spoke from behind her.  
Nepeta looked around cautiously. There stood Vriska, smirking slyly. She played with her hands nervously, her palms getting clammy.  
“Y-you wouldn’t hurt me, w-would you? Vriskers..” Nepeta looked up, pleading to her friend.  
“Depends what my magic 8 ball has to say” Vriska replied, laughing slightly. She bought out her 8 ball, shaking it.  
“Ah, unlucky, it says ‘Yes’ sorry Nep” Vriska looked down, a fake look of sadness on her face  
"V-Vriska! Y-you don't have to d-do this!" She looked up, pain streaked across her face.  
"Nepeta, that's not the rule of the games, I have to do this" she looked down as Nepeta fumbled for her cat claws, not completing the action in time.  
Vriska stood above her, smirking slightly as she bought out her knuckle dusters, covered in long spikes, eight on ring to be precise.  
She closed her eyes as she plunged the duster straight into Nepetas chest, raising the other ringed hand go swipe her temple, opening her eyes as she ran away quickly. She started shouting to her team members way off in the distance.  
“GUYS, I’VE GOT ONE!” Is all you could her Vriska say.  
Nepeta lay there, trying too patch up her wounds. She looked up to see Karkats face traced with terror, she shook her head when he tried to approach.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Aranea stood alone.  
Porrim had run off the get supplies and the two younger trolls had followed her.  
"Why'd they leave me here, of all places" She whined, looking around in the kitchen-styled room she was in. There was weapons placed left, right and centre.  
When she heard footsteps she smiled slightly, moving towards the door.  
She looked through the doorway hoping to see the rest of her team.  
There stood Rufioh.  
"R-Rufioh?!" Aranea said, a slight tinge of happiness to her voice, not understanding what was going to happen next.  
The taller troll pulled out his weapon.  
His weapon was Caltrops now if you don't know what these are, they're basically a square piece of metal with corners turned up and down in different directions, like a throwing star and whichever way they land, you're sure to get injured.  
Araneas face quickly grew fearful, stepping back.  
"I'm so, so sorry Ara.." Rufioh said sadly as he threw one of the 4 caltrops he had in Araneas direction.  
The first snagged at her neck, the second at her arms and the third to her temple.  
Aranea growled slightly as she got hit, induring serious agony.  
She turn and ran but Rufioh was quick with his actions. He threw the last caltrop, hitting Aranea in the back of her neck on her pressure point.  
She fell to the ground. Rufioh picked up the remaining caltrops and walked over to Aranea, bending over her and grasping her neck tightly. He heard a slight crack, indicating her neck was snapped.  
He stood up shakily, running off back the way he had arrived.  
A few minutes later, Porrim came running through the door along with Equius and Tavros.  
She looked at the scene in front of her, she knelt down by her body, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes.  
"N-no..." She whimpered.  
The other two trolls stood there, shock on their faces.  
"Aranea Serkit - Deceased" The intercom crackled off from somewhere down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To keep updated, follow my tumblr!  
> jfcsollux.tumblr.com or psionics.co.vu!!


	8. Close Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late! ;n;

Latula hummed quietly as they all walked down the corridor.  
“Whats going to happen to Meenah, will she be alright?” Sollux asked, looking over to Latula  
“I’m sure she’ll be fine…right now we need to find somewhere to sleep in this god forsaken place…I cant even tell if its day or night here” Latula said, mostly to herself but loud enough for the other two to hear.  
They all walked slowly around the corridors, investigating any room they came across. It was about half an hour after walking when they heard footsteps running along the corridor ahead of them. Latula pushed the two other trolls into a room, following suite.

She peeked around the doorframe, looking to see who it was.  
“It looks like Ruifoh and Damara…and pos-yep, Gamzee and Eridan are there too” She looked back at the two who had crept under the counters.   
She crawled back over, ducking under the counter with them.  
“Hey, ‘Tula, what did Gamzee look like…he isn’t sober yet is he?” Karkat looked over to Latula.  
“He looked higher than a 747 Plane, I think he’s fine right now” Latula replied.  
She closed her mouth quickly as the door opened, letting Team Two enter into its space.  
Rufioh was talking to Damara about something non important and Eridan was avoiding all of them.  
Gamzee was just checking out the area, he came over to the counters and sat on them, the rest of the team just milled around, not looking for anything important.   
Gamzee hopped off the counter about 5 minutes later and squatted down, looking at the three trolls hiding under there.

“You know motherfuckers, I could tell you were under there but don’t worry, I won’t tell on my best palebro and his bros” Gamzee, smiled stupidly, making a diamond with his fingers and showing Karkat.  
Karkat rolled his eyes and returned the gesture, smiling sweetly up at him.  
Gamzee stood up and leant against the counter side.  
“Gamzee, what are you doing?” Damara asked snidely, looking over at him.  
“None of your fucking business” Gamzee said looking over to her and smiling sarcastically.  
Eridan sniggered and Rufioh raised an eyebrow.  
“You have some fucking nerve talking to her like that” Rufioh told Gamzee, defending Damara  
“You have some nerve talking to ME like that!” Gamzee said, clenching his fists slightly.  
“I wouldn’t make him angry..” Eridan added, rejoining the group.

Latula held in her laugh, looking at how Rufioh was getting owned by Gamzee.  
“Hah, why shouldn’t I be talking to your like that? Its not like you can fucking kill me or anything!” Rufioh stated.  
Gamzee rushed up, gripping his neck, putting a little bit of force into it but not enough to seriously injure him.  
“You want to fucking say that again?” Gamzee growled in Rufiohs face.   
Rufiohs expression changed in a split second from smug to scared.  
“Gamz…let him go” Eridan walked up to the now obvious angry Gamzee.  
“Don’t take another motherfucking step towards me Eridan or so help me I’ll kill you too” Gamzee said, not bothering to look around.  
Rufioh was still in his grasp; Damara had backed off into the corner.

“Fuck, I need to help him” Karkat whispered.  
“He’s going to go out of fucking control unless I go up there” He said again.  
Latula pondered on the thought before nodding and Sollux raised his eyebrow, motioning that he was going with him just in case.  
The two younger trolls crawled out, Latula following them.  
Eridan got his wand out, his Ahabs Crosshair wasn’t needed in such a small space.  
Sollux looked at him and smirked, shaking his head as his psionics crackled. Eridan put his wand away, nodding his head as an apology.  
Damara looked over to Latula who put her finger to her lips to keep her quiet. Rufioh didn’t bother to speak.  
Karkat walked timidly up to Gamzee, shooshing him as he walked closer.  
Gamzee loosened his grip on Rufioh as he heard Karkat, he let go of the older troll fully when Karkat pulled his hands gently off Rufioh.  
“Hey, ssh, it’s okay Gamzee…there’s no need to get angry” Karkat pulled him round, looking up and smiling.  
Gamzee’s face soon fell into a smile as well, pulling Karkat into a gentle hug.  
“Thanks palebro” He said quietly, calming down quickly.  
“Don’t mention it…all in a palemates day” Karkat replied, breaking the hug and forming his fingers into a diamond shape like earlier. Gamzee laughed and did the same.

Rufioh rubbed his neck and sat down on a near by chair calling Damara over to talk to him.  
Latula followed, negotiating terms with the other two, making sure they weren’t going to be killed by them.  
Karkat stayed with Gamzee, looking after him like a pale should do.  
Eridan ended up with Sollux, at first it was awkward but they soon got into a conversation.  
“Did you guys run into here for safety or something?” Eridan asked, making sure his want was safely put away.  
“Yeah, we saw you guys and ran in here, to be honest it’s lucky that we did. If KK didn’t stop GZ with his adorable palemate shit, Rufioh would have been killed” Sollux replied, clenching his fists as his psionics fizzled back inside his eyes.  
“Mhmm, I guess we would have lost a team member, thanks…hey where’d Meenah go, I thought she was in your team” Eridan asked, looking around.  
“She stormed off after hearing that Aranea died…she’s looking for the person who killed her so I’d watch out if you see her, she could flip out at anyone” Sollux said, giving a word of advice to Eridan.  
Latula stood up, thanking Rufioh and Damara. It seemed like they’d agreed not to kill them this time seeing as Karkat just saved Rufiohs life.  
Karkat looked up at Gamzee, smiling sadly.  
“Try not to flip out okay? I might not be there the next time” Karkat said, standing on his tip toes to hug Gamzee properly.  
“I’ll try best bro, I’ll try” He did make the diamond shape again as Karkat did it in return. Karkat started walking to the door to join Latula.  
Sollux was still standing next to Eridan.  
“Hey, ED…take care of yourself” Sollux said as he hugged Eridan quickly and left swiftly to join the others.  
Eridan called out to him before he left.  
“You too Sol…you too”  
And with that, they set off down the corridor to find another room to rest in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry this is such a late chapter.  
> Seeing as it's been the Christmas break, I've been out and about for the 2 weeks I've had off but don't worry! I've managed to write you stuff! 
> 
> Now, over the next few weeks I'll be moving house so please bare with me and the updates!  
> Thank you for being so patient!


	9. Lost and Found

Meenah trudged along the hallways. She was angry and hell bent on revenge.  
“How fucking dare they kill her...how fucking dare they!” She grumbled to herself, her trident slung over her shoulders.  
She sighed, regretting leaving the others so quickly.  
“Fuck it, they’ll be fine. ‘Tulas great anyway” She said to herself comfortingly, trying to reassure herself.  
She felt like turning back but decided against it, trying to find where Aranea had gone.  
She walked down the hallways of white washed walls; it felt like they were never ending.  
Meenah looked in the little rooms she was coming across, searching for anything she found useful.

Meenah sighed, thinking this whole journey was for nothing until she heard what she thought to be a quiet whimper coming from one of the rooms.  
She looked around the door, peeking in momentarily before walking in.  
She looked about, trying to find where the whimpering was coming from.  
Eventually she found the source, it was Mituna, curled up in a bundle.  
“...Mituna?” She asked softly. Even though the rule of the game was to kill, she just couldn’t hurt Mituna. Mituna looked up, backing away.  
“N-No don’t hurt me..DON’T HURT ME!” He screamed, tears falling.  
“Mituna, sweetheart I’m not going to hurt you...what’s happened?” Meenah asked, trying to calm him down.  
“H-Horuss, well h-he attacked me I g-guess but...Kurloz wasn’t there! I d-don’t know where he’s gone..” Mituna looked up, still visibly scared.  
Meenah felt like she had a right to protect Mituna for Latulas sake.  
“Listen sweetie, first off let me sort out that injury and after do you want me to help you find Kurloz?” Meenah offered, getting a bandage out of her pack.  
Meenah pulled Mituna up into a sitting position, lifting up his loose shirt and attending to the various deep cuts he had on his torso. Horuss had obviously done some serious damage.  
“T-thank you...Mee” He said quietly, wincing slightly at the pressure being applied to his cuts.  
“It’s alright ‘Tuna...now, lets go find Kurloz” Meenah said, smiling as she helped the low blood up.  
Mituna clung onto Meenahs arm, walking shakily out of the room with her.  
“Where did you last see Kur?” Meenah asked, not mentioning the arm clinging thing.  
“Uh...that way I think” Mituna pointed to the way ahead of them, they both walked together, looking around.  
“Mee, where’s the rest of your team..?” Mituna asked, looking around the bare walls for any sign of his moirail.  
“I...They’re still alive, I just left them for a while” She said, trying to forget why she did leave her team.  
“Solbee’s in your team right? I-Is he okay?” Mituna looked up, wide-eyed.  
“The lil psionic is fine ‘Tuna, don’t worry. He misses you by the way, he keeps on talking about you when he goes to sleep” Meenah replied, smiling weakly at the remembrance of how fondly Sollux talked about his brother.  
“He is? Oh good...I miss him too” Mituna frowned sadly before looking up at Meenah.  
“When you go back...can you promise to look after him for me?” He asked hopefully.  
“Of course sweetie” She smiled, nodding down at him.  
Mituna giggled, still keeping a hold of Meenah, more for safety than anything else.  
They rounded another corner not realising how far they’d actually walked.

Mituna stopped, grinning widely when he saw Kurloz.  
“KUR! KURLOZ!!” He shouted, running over to his moirail.  
Kurloz didn’t look up. He was hunched over a body, tears falling down his cheeks.  
The intercom sounded from just above them.  
“Horuss Zahhak, deceased”  
Mituna stopped dead in his tracks, a puzzled expression on his face.  
“W-Why?” He asked quietly.  
Kurloz wasn’t one to talk but for once he opened his mouth.  
His voice was soft but full of anger and danger.  
“He hurt you” is all Kurloz said before shifting away, shaking his head.  
“Kur, you did what you thought was right...it’s the rules after all” Meenah said, trying to comfort the purple highblood.  
Kurloz looked up, tears pricking his eyes.  
Mituna ran forwards, hugging him tightly, speaking quickly and stumbling over his words.  
“I-It’s okay! Kur, p-please! It’s okay” He tried to calm him down, still hugging him close.  
Kurloz hugged back, feeling guilty for what he did.  
Kurloz’s weapon happened to be a blow dart gun equip with darts and poison, when he used it, the victim didn’t know until it was too late. The dart would fly through the air with precise aim and hit the target; the poison would then work immediately, getting to work effectively.  
One reason Kurloz chose this weapon was because it was silent, like him.  
He had all the required poison with him for the weapon to fully function, all kept neatly away in his backpack.  
Meenah looked over to Kurloz and Mituna before nodding.  
Kurloz nodded back and smiled as a way of saying thank you and with that Meenah turned around swiftly her previous feelings towards finding Araneas killer returning to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE
> 
> So after about a month I've F I N A L L Y updated!  
> I guess I should really be saying sorry for not uploading sooner for this..  
> I've had a little...well a long writers block other this and just felt that one shots were a good way to get through it!  
> So here's Chapter 9! I hope you enjoy this; updates will be returning to more regular times as of tomorrow:3
> 
> //need to ask me anything? feel free to ask something to my tumblr:3 jfcsollux.tumblr.com / psionics.co.vu //

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of characters are OOC here simply because it's easier to write them the way I have.  
> If you want to leave any advice, comment!  
> 


End file.
